This is the last Charley Reese column, as the author is retiring. All of us at Antiwar.com will miss his insights and wish him well. Years ago, the first time I saw my friend Brother Dave Gardner after he had survived a plane crash, the comedian smiled and said,...
Discovering Sin
The International Herald Tribune recently published an article about a new Army medical book on trauma wounds. The reporter said that "the gruesome photographs illustrate the grim nature of today's wars, in which more are hurt by explosions than by bullets, and...
The Republic, Slip-Sliding Away
Despite all the blather about democracy, we did not invent it, do not support it and have, during the recent administration, become less democratic than we were before. We are and always have been too large a country for a true democracy. That's why the Founding...
Quagmire Exchange
If Barack Obama's idea of ending the occupation in Iraq is to transfer most of the troops to Afghanistan, he won't have accomplished much. He's right that we should not be in Iraq, but we also shouldn't be in Afghanistan. Our sole interest in Afghanistan should be to...
Pull the Plug on the War State
Hopefully, the next president, whoever he is, will have sense enough to realize that an anti-missile site in Eastern Europe is not worth rekindling the Cold War with Russia. Though the press pays little attention to it, the Bush administration has already practically...
America First
Teddy Roosevelt was the first president to leave the continental U.S. It's too bad he wasn't also the last. Politicians and celebrities with an urge to see poverty only need to visit the Mississippi Delta or some of the neighborhoods in American cities. If they yearn...
America Is the Rogue Nation
One gets the impression that there are some people in Washington who believe that Israel or the U.S. can bomb Iran's nuclear reactors, fly home, and it will be mission complete. It makes you wonder if perhaps there is a virus going around that is gradually making...
Middle East Pop Quiz
It's time for another pop quiz on America's favorite region of the world the Middle East. Let's get started with the subject of nuclear weapons. Which country in the Middle East actually possesses nuclear weapons? Israel. Which country in the Middle East...
Bush and McCain’s Iran Insanity
President George Bush and his tag-along buddy John McCain are repeating almost word for word about Iran the pattern of lies and threats they used to justify the war against Iraq. Our intelligence agencies have said that Iran gave up the pursuit of a nuclear weapon...
The Long Night
Have you ever wondered how human beings can be so cruel? And how cruelty crosses all the boundaries national, racial, and ethnic? I have. Rereading an autobiography published in 1941 by a communist agent reminded me of the dark side of human nature. The book,...